The Bethesda Blog has word on future plans for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which include mod tools with Steam Workshop support as well as continued game updates for Bethesda's RPG sequel. The Creation Kit is described as the same tools that were used to develop the game, and it is expected in January as a free release . The Steam Workshop support will allow new content to be uploaded at the push of a button, though uploads and downloads from third-party sites will also be permitted. Here's word on an imminent incremental patch and beyond:

Continued Game Updates – This week we released update 1.2 across all platforms, and we’ll be releasing an incremental update next week. We anticipate it will be up on PC first, and then hit PS3 and Xbox 360 later in the week. Among other things, the update will fix issues like magic resistance not calculating properly and the rare, amazing backwards flying dragon. Once the update is released, we’ll share the full release notes.

After the holidays, we’ll continue to release regular updates for the game — through full title updates, as well as incremental “gameplay updates” to fix whatever issues come up along with rebalancing portions of the game for difficulty or exploits. We plan on having a lot of these, not just a few. Overall, you should expect updates to be hitting the PC and Steam earlier and more often, as that’s a process we control. Console updates will follow, as they must be certified and processed by those manufacturers.

We all know this is a huge game, and everyone has a different experience. We’ll continue to do everything we can to make the game better and better for as many people as possible every day. We’ve also realized that with the millions upon millions of people playing Skyrim, we need to treat our updates with greater care. If we get too aggressive trying to fix a minor issue, we run a risk of breaking something larger in a game like this. To be safe, we are prioritizing code side fixes right now over data fixes. Quest and balance issues are usually data, and those will start rolling in a large way with the January updates.

StingingVelvet wrote on Dec 2, 2011, 03:39:Plus every pirate will use the nexus, one assumes. That alone would probably keep their traffic respectable.

Or loda, or sxs, or on and on and on? Seriously nexus isn't the only site, rather it's simply the big english speaking site that has from 'good' to 'complete steaming shit'. There's plenty of smaller modding community sites too anvilbay for example.

--"For every human problem, there is a neat, simple solution; and it is always wrong." --H.L. Mencken

There will always be a place for mod sites. Whether you have a legit copy or not is of little consequence, they will still be handy for a number of reasons.

The best thing that may come of this is steam being friendlier with titles that are modded and restraining themselves from breaking potential mod compatibility with updates or whatever. That would be great, and it would give more value to retail customers. Right now people who play pirated copies of games available/only on steam have always had an easier time in this regard.

I'd much rather use Nexus because I have a greater amount of control over the process, sometimes I want specific parts of a mod but I remove others that might be overpowered or etc. For people who don't care about that I'm sure it will be a big deal though as Velvet said.

Creston wrote on Dec 1, 2011, 23:16:As for this killing skyrimnexus, I don't know. I doubt it, to be honest. Valve has got a lot of catching up to do, and nexus just released their own version of (F)OMM, which integrates directly into the website, which is something Valve won't have.

Plus every pirate will use the nexus, one assumes. That alone would probably keep their traffic respectable.

As someone who only ever uses tweaks and UI mods I'm not really too bothered either way, really. I do have to say though, making mod discovery and installation easier for the "average joe" is a big deal I think, and a real boon for Steam if they handle it right.

jacobvandy wrote on Dec 1, 2011, 20:23:Yep, I was about to say, sites like Skyrim Nexus are toast if the Steam Workshop takes off, which it will if it works well. Unless they start putting limitations on content, like prohibiting nude mods and other "mature" content or even stuff that might infringe on copyrights, etc., in which case third-party sites will stick around to pick up that slack. Though there's always the pirates, I don't know if they'll have access to Steam Workshop or not...

I'd be happy to get my mods from the Steam Workshop and never visit the Nexus again if it meant I didn't have to be bombarded with anime cosplay/schoolgirl/hentai/nudity/dancing/posing mods.

You realize you can filter out adult mods, right? In fact, you can filter lots of things.

Kastagir wrote on Dec 1, 2011, 23:01:I'd be happy to get my mods from the Steam Workshop and never visit the Nexus again if it meant I didn't have to be bombarded with anime cosplay/schoolgirl/hentai/nudity/dancing/posing mods.

Jerykk wrote on Dec 1, 2011, 22:29:Bah. We have to wait for more than a month for the mod tools? Weaksauce. This game is in dire need of a complete UI overhaul, as well as a hotkey/favorites overhaul.

Both of which are done in flash, and neither of which require the Creation Kit. It's just that all the normal menu modders don't have much experience in flash, and they're having a bitch of a time recompiling all the weird shit Bethesda put in their broken-ass menus.

SkyUI is looking REALLY promising so far.

As for this killing skyrimnexus, I don't know. I doubt it, to be honest. Valve has got a lot of catching up to do, and nexus just released their own version of (F)OMM, which integrates directly into the website, which is something Valve won't have.

Yeah, you can install mods "directly" from the Steam Workshop, but we all know that Bethesda's way of installing mods is pure, utter shit. You can't sort anything, you can't manually set your load order, and God forbid if you try to do something like created bashed patches or anything.

Steam Workshop will do well for the people who want a few mods to alter a few things and that's it. The hardcore crowd who runs a crapload of mods at the same time will stick with Nexus and Bashed/OMM.

jacobvandy wrote on Dec 1, 2011, 20:23:Yep, I was about to say, sites like Skyrim Nexus are toast if the Steam Workshop takes off, which it will if it works well. Unless they start putting limitations on content, like prohibiting nude mods and other "mature" content or even stuff that might infringe on copyrights, etc., in which case third-party sites will stick around to pick up that slack. Though there's always the pirates, I don't know if they'll have access to Steam Workshop or not...

I'd be happy to get my mods from the Steam Workshop and never visit the Nexus again if it meant I didn't have to be bombarded with anime cosplay/schoolgirl/hentai/nudity/dancing/posing mods.

Great news! I think there'll be a place for third party sites, there's no way the Steam Workshop will host something like a killable children mod.

Also if the workshop doesn't allow manual installation it might be annoying, by the time you have some customised and merged mods and levelelled lists you usually want full control of what you install and where.

jacobvandy wrote on Dec 1, 2011, 20:23:Yep, I was about to say, sites like Skyrim Nexus are toast if the Steam Workshop takes off, which it will if it works well.

It'll need to work well on both fronts, making it as easy for the modders as for people who want to use them. Considering the high number of adult mods for these games I'm not sure I see that happening unless they really make no effort to control what's out there at all.

Yep, I was about to say, sites like Skyrim Nexus are toast if the Steam Workshop takes off, which it will if it works well. Unless they start putting limitations on content, like prohibiting nude mods and other "mature" content or even stuff that might infringe on copyrights, etc., in which case third-party sites will stick around to pick up that slack. Though there's always the pirates, I don't know if they'll have access to Steam Workshop or not...